The Accidental Ask-out
by The Eye of The Oncoming Storm
Summary: AU - What if when, in "Rory's Birthday Parties", instead of asking Lorelai to marry him, he asked a question that would have been a lot harder to brush off: "Will you go out with me?" - Season 1 {UPDATES SUSPENDED PENDING DEEP REVISIONS}
1. Chapter 1 - Rory's Birthday Parties

_I would like to think that I'm getting better at things. Story development. Adding more original content._

 _If you agree, let me know! I want to improve, and would appreciate the encouragement._

* * *

It was one of the things he liked about the diner. It was on a corner, with windows on both sides. There wasn't much that he missed when he was paying attention. He was used to having to multi-task, but he was always watching. Keeping an eye on the customers, making sure that they got refills if it looked like they were staying, getting their bill ready if not. And keeping an eye out for any potential customers on the approach.

Today was no exception. Luke stood behind the counter of the diner, glancing up from the receipts in front of him from time to time to check on his customers, which is how he noticed that Lorelai had parked across the street from the diner by Miss Patty's, and started walking towards the diner. When she entered and looked around clearly disappointed, he didn't have to guess who she was meeting.

"She's not here yet." He informed her.

"Alright, well you'll have to entertain me until she arrives." Lorelai sat down at the counter across from him and started to put her stuff down on the stool next to her. "Okay, burger boy, dance!"

Luke stood there with his order pad, looking at Lorelai, and the words were out of his mouth as soon as he thought them.

"You wanna go out sometime?"

As the reality that he had actually spoken those words sank in, he felt as if time had slowed around the pair of them. Lorelai had froze, staring at him, and her arms were stuck holding a department store garment bag mid-fold. He waited for what felt like several agonizingly slow minutes, but were truly only a few seconds. He tensed, unsure of what to do now that the words were out.

 _I didn't mean to say that yet. I was just looking to shut you up, I didn't mean it! I mean, I meant it, but not yet! You weren't supposed to take me seriously. Oh, jeez, you took me seriously._

Finally Lorelai blinked, and Luke felt time start to speed up again.

"L-like a date?" She asked, as if she wasn't quite sure of what she heard. Which was fitting, as Luke wasn't quite sure of what he'd said.

He tried to stammer out an explanation, but his head and his heart couldn't make up their minds what to say. "I- I just… W-was…"

"Luke?" Lorelai asked, apparently oblivious to his inner turmoil. "You just were… what?"

"Uh…" He now felt like his heart was actually going to beat out his chest, like a cartoon. He was surprised, shocked even, that she couldn't see it. "I- I was just thinking, that we- we should hang out sometime."

"We already do." Lorelai pointed out. "Here. At the diner."

"I meant, outside the diner." Luke said. He was happy that he finally said a complete sentence without stuttering, and the small victory compelled him to keep talking. "Something fun."

"So, like, a date?" She asked again.

"No!" Luke said quickly. Too quickly, he berated himself. "No, um, as friends."

"Oh." Lorelai looked down at the counter briefly. "Okay. That sounds fun."

Luke frowned. Had he imagined it, or had she seemed... disappointed?

 _No, no, no, don't make it seem like you're opposed to the idea of a date. God dammit!_

"Well, I-I mean-" _Great, with the stuttering again_. "If- if you wanted to…"

Lorelai raised her head and looked at him, wide-eyed.

But before Luke could say anything else, the bell on the door of the diner rang, and they both looked to see Rory walking in, looking upset. Luke took the opportunity to make a swift exit, leaving a slightly bewildered Lorelai behind. He walked all the way back into the storeroom and leaned his head against the door, trying to collect himself.

 _Stupid, stupid, stupid!_

 _Just ask her out, dumbass._

 _But it's Lorelai. My friend, Lorelai._

_You were halfway there already and you chickened out._

_My platonic, not-dating friend Lorelai._

_Chicken._

_What happens if I ask her out and she says no? I'll never see her again, she'll think I'm a creep._

 _She wouldn't say no, she likes you!_

 _That's worse! Cause then, she's only saying yes because she feels like she has to, I'd feel like a creep. I would be a creep._

 _No, she likes you. She flirts with you all the time._

 _That's just Lorelai._

 _She wanted you to ask her out. What's the worst she could say, no?_

 _No. The worst she could say is yes._

He sighed and peeked out the doorway. He had to go back out there, he still had customers. And Lorelai and Rory didn't have any coffee yet, so it was only a matter of time before Lorelai went behind his counter and got it herself.

 _But you don't actually mind her going behind your counter._

 _Shut up._

Luke went back to the counter, grabbed a couple mugs and a coffee pot and went over to Lorelai and Rory's table. "I got your coffee."

"Thanks." Lorelai said. He poured for both of them, but as he walked away, she called him back. "Hey Luke!"

He turned back around. "Yeah?"

"We're throwing Rory a birthday party on Saturday night, you wanna come?"

"Look, you don't have to-" He started to say.

"I want you to." Lorelai insisted. "Please?"

"It'll be fun." Rory convinced him. "Mom's famous for her blowouts."

Lorelai smiled as she recalled. "The best one was her eighth birthday."

Rory's face brightened at the memory as well. "Oh yeah, that was good."

"The cops shut us down." Lorelai added for his benefit.

He frowned. "The cops shut down an eight-year-old's birthday party?"

"And arrested the clown." Rory grinned.

He shook his head at them, trying to ignore all the concerned questions that bubbled up in his mind. "I don't want to hear anymore of this."

Luke turned to walk away.

"Seven o'clock, don't be late!" Lorelai shouted after him.

As he got back to work, he shook his head and smiled as realized something that he had before, but kept being reminded of. That his life was certainly never going to be boring, or lonely, as long as they were around.

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As Luke left the diner on the night of the party, he realized he'd forgotten to get Rory a present. While normally, it would have been at the top of his to do list, he'd spent nearly every minute that he was not working freaking out about his almost ask out. Gift shopping had completely slipped his mind.

He checked the time on his watch. Most of the stores in town would be closing right about now, and he didn't have time to drive anywhere to get a present.

Deciding that he couldn't show up to the party empty handed, he went over to Doose's. As he stared at the variety of chips, however, he was struck by the realization that even though he saw them everyday and knew what kind of food they liked, he had no idea what kind of chips they liked. He vaguely remembered an argument Lorelai and Rory had sometime ago about chips, but he'd more or less tuned them out at the time. Now he wished that he'd paid better attention.

He sighed and moved to look around the store for better ideas. Knowing them, there would already be more than enough junk food and soda there. And he could only imagine they pair of them ragging on him for buying and bringing the very foods he detested to a party. Or the mildly joking rant from Lorelai imitating him if he brought disposable paper plates or napkins, about landfills or recycling or something of that nature.

When he spotted the ice chest in the back of the store, he figured that was a safe bet. People always needed more ice at parties.

As an afterthought, he briefly looked through the greeting card display, quickly narrowing down the options. Given how well his gifts had been received in the past, he used them as guidelines on how to pick a card.

He picked up a card that read, "Happy Birthday, girl!" with a picture of golden retriever puppies wearing ribbons that had glitter added to them. However, it wasn't until he was checking out that he opened the card to write a message that he realized it read, "Happy 6th birthday!" on the inside. Luke briefly debated whether or not to go back and get another one, or whether to just write in "16th" in the card. Would they find it funny, or disappointing?

Knowing he was already late, he sighed, wrote in the correct age, and signed it with additional birthday wishes, hoping that they would find the correction in age funny. A few minutes later, he was struggling to open the door to Lorelai's house with full hands. Had he tried knocking, he knew that no one would hear him over the music and din of the party.

He finally managed to get the door open, and Lorelai met him at the door. Her face lit up as soon as she saw him. He could tell she'd had a few drinks, and looked absolutely incandescent as she grinned at him. In fact, her entire posture changed to express her pure joy at seeing him, and he couldn't help but smile back and feel his heart beat a little faster. He felt like he'd had a few too many drinks himself despite being stone cold sober.

"Oh my god! You're a vision!" Lorelai turned around and shouted back into the kitchen. "Sookie, we have ice!"

Luke saw Sookie's head pop around the corner. "Hallelujah," she said, and disappeared again.

Lorelai turned back to him, still smiling. "How did you know‽"

He shrugged awkwardly, still being burdened with two heavy bags of ice. "Well, a good rule of thumb is you never can have too much ice."

She grinned even wider, which he hadn't thought possible, and moved in to embrace him. "Ah, you're the best!"

She moved in for a hug. He hugged her the best he could without hitting her with the ice. They parted, but their eyes lingering on one another for a moment as they moved further into the house. It felt like it could have been a Moment, like the ones you see in movies. Like ones that he Lorelai had shared before.

Until Luke noticed a woman watching them, clearly appraising the interaction with a critical eye. Luke immediately felt sober once more.

Lorelai noticed too, and also became serious. "Oh, hi, mom. This is my friend Luke."

"How do you do?" He said politely.

Emily fixed him with a stare, her reply was cool, and overly polite. "Fine, thank you."

Luke felt the need to get out of there, a need for something to do. He turned to Lorelai and indicated the bags of ice. "Well, I better get these in the freezer before they melt."

"Well, not very likely in here." She told him in a stage whisper. He gave her a half smile and walked past Emily Gilmore to the kitchen. Lorelai followed him.

"Want a drink?" Lorelai offered.

"Is there any left?" He opened the freezer door and squeezed in the two bags of ice.

"Absolutely, this is a party. There's beer in the fridge, help yourself."

He did, and reached for the bottle opener. "So that was your mom?"

"Yeah, you finally got to see the woman I've told you about all these years." Lorelai poured herself another drink. "Please don't hold anything she says tonight against me."

"I make no promises." He joked.

She shoved him playfully. "You're not funny."

He took a drink of his beer. "So is it just your mom here tonight?"

"No, my dad's around here somewhere too. He did that thing that guys do when they visit a house, checking out stuff, then he disappeared. Couldn't have gone far though."

"What do you mean, that thing that guys do?" Luke asked indignantly. "I don't do that."

"Oh, please." Lorelai scoffed. "It seems like you're here every other weekend, checking out something you "noticed last time". Like the water heater, or the porch railing, or the pluming. And you go and check it out and give me a bunch of advice that I usually ignore because- well frankly, it's usually you giving me the advice and then you're usually the one that ends up fixing whatever you think is wrong."

"I do not do that." He denied. "Guys do not do that."

 _Except for the loose screws on the porch swing._ _But that's a safety thing. That shouldn't count._

She looked at him pointedly, as if she could read his mind. "You've probably already seen something that you're thinking you wanna fix."

Luke's face flushed pink. "Am not."

" _Right_." Lorelai said, rolling her eyes. "Well, I better get back to the party. Come back and join us after you haven't checked out whatever it is you're _not_ thinking about."

Luke didn't say anything as she left the kitchen. He waited until she was gone, then he slipped out the backdoor and made his way around to the side porch to look at the porch swing. Despite what Lorelai said, or how right she was, there was no point in wasting a trip.

On his way, however, he came across a man sitting alone on the porch, reading a magazine. He frowned for a moment, but realized that this must be the other Gilmore parent. The one whom Rory had inherited her penchant for reading.

Richard Gilmore.

Luke walked up to him, and took the initiative to introduce himself. "I'm Luke."

Richard regarded him with surprise for a moment, before recovering his manners and rising to shake Luke's hand. "Richard Gilmore."

"You must be Lorelai's dad."

"Yes, I am."

"Well, nice to meet you." Luke smiled politely. "What are you doing out here?"

"Well, Rory noticed that I had absented myself from the festivities and was kind enough to provide some reading material." Richard smiled and held up the magazine. "This isn't exactly the kind of party I'm used to, not that I'm a huge fan of parties in general."

"Yeah, me either." Luke agreed. "I'm only here cause Lorelai asked me to. Not that I wouldn't have wanted to come, I'm just not big on parties anyway."

"Eh, quite." Richard nodded, then seemed a loss for what to say next. "If you don't mind...?"

"Yeah?"

"How exactly do you know my daughter?"

"I run the diner in town, she's there a lot. I'm basically Lorelai's coffee dealer." Luke joked. Them kicked himself, not knowing if Richard would get the joke. He felt himself relax as Richard laughed.

"Yes, that's one thing that her and her mother have in common. I think there's a coffee plantation out there somewhere that is entirely dedicated to producing coffee beans solely for their consumption."

"Well, if you ever find it, let me know." Luke pretended to grouse. "My usual supplier might decide to cut me off some day, it'd be nice to have a backup."

"Well, if I stumble across it in my travels, I'll be sure to let you know." Richard said jovially. "So, did you come out here for a reason, or just wandering?"

"I actually came out here to look at the porch swing on the side of the house, just around the corner here." Luke jabbed a thumb behind him. "I noticed that some of the screws were working themselves loose the last time I was here, I was just going to check them out, see what I needed to fix it."

"Is this something you do a lot?" Richard asked. "Help Lorelai with repairs?"

"Fairly often, yeah. Mostly, it's preventative stuff, things that will save her money down the road. Keep people from getting hurt."

"Like, the swing." Richard filled in.

Luke nodded. "Exactly."

"Do you mind if I tag along?"

Luke wasn't prepared to expect this. "Uh, sure."

Luke lead the way to the side of the house, where the porch swing was. The music and conversation from the party was muffled but could still be heard. Luke went about testing the swing, checking screws, and mentally measuring. Richard watched him work.

After a while, he commented, "You enjoy this sort of work, don't you?"

Luke shrugged. "I don't know if "enjoy" is the right word. I'm used to it."

"But you like seeing a job done right." Richard guessed.

"Yeah, I guess I do." Luke smiled to himself. "My dad taught me everything I know about woodworking, carpentry. He used to own the hardware store in town here."

"Used to?" Richaed enquired. "Is he retired?"

Luke stood up, not quite sure what to say. "No. He's... He passed away. It'll be eleven years, the end of next month."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Richard said solemnly. "I didn't mean-"

"It's fine." Luke said quickly. "I just don't talk about it much."

Richard nodded, understanding. "So, do you still run his store?"

Luke shook his head. "No, he left me the store, but I turned it into a diner."

"Did you now?"

"He wanted me to sell it, get rid of it. But I just... I couldn't." Luke found himself saying. "I left all his stuff on the walls. Even the sign. Still says William's Hardware."

"Sometimes, it's the smallest things that you hold onto, that hold the biggest memories." Richard said quietly.

Luke looked over at him. Richard was watching through the window, and Luke had to turn around to see what he was looking at. It was Lorelai and Rory, sitting on the couch in the living room, chatting with their friends.

Luke looked at the elder Gilmore. Had Richard Gilmore been a different sort of man, he probably would have shed at least a few tears, Luke thought. Though he was a stoic, Luke could tell that he was hurting, and felt compelled to say something, to assure him.

"I'll look out for them, sir." Luke said. "I always have."

Richard turned to him. He was silent for a moment, but when he did speak his voice was thick with emotion. "You're a good man, Mr. Danes."

"Mr. Danes was my father." Luke attempted to joke. "Just call me Luke."

"Luke." Richard repeated, in a more normal tone. "I believe that my daughter and granddaughter have mentioned you before."

"Yeah?" Luke went back to work.

"They seem, eh... quite fond of you." Richard commented.

"Well, I'm quite fond of them." Luke said.

"So it would seem." Richard remarked quietly.

Luke was sure that he wanted to say more, but the elder Gilmore excused himself.

"Well, you seem to be busy. I'm going to go back to my magazine." Richard said. "Oh, and in case Lorelai doesn't mention it, if you could make sure she sees to the chimney. I'm not entirely sure that it's structurally sound."

"I'll add it to the list." Luke said.

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Inside, the party had started to wind down. People started going home, and a group of them ended up in the living room, including Lorelai, Rory, and Emily. While Patty and Babette reminisced about young Rory, Lorelai noticed her mother slip away from the party and go upstairs. An uneasy feeling settled in her stomach. Lord knows what Emily would think of her bedroom. When she arrived at her bedroom door, however, she found that Emily had been captivated by the quilt she had made, so many years ago before they'd moved to that house. She leaned against to the door jam for a moment before speaking.

"I made that."

Emily looked up at her in surprise. "Really?"

Lorelai walked into the room. "From Rory's old baby clothes."

"How nice." Emily said softly. "I hope you washed them first."

Lorelai snapped her fingers. "Rats. I knew I forgot something."

Lorelai and Emily exchanged small smiles before Lorelai sat on the bed, facing her mother.

"It's quite an assortment of characters you've assembled down there." Emily commented. Lorelai knew what she must be thinking and not saying. She was grateful.

"They're great people." Lorelai told her.

"This Patricia-"

"Miss Patty."

"She teaches dance?"

"Among other things."

Lorelai grinned, knowing that it would drive her mother crazy imagining what kind of other thing Patty could quite possibly be teaching. Her mother, frustratingly, seemed to take this statement fairly easily.

"And this man with the ice?"

"Luke." Lorelai supplied.

Emily gave her daughter a knowing smile. "How long have you been seeing him?"

"Luke?" Lorelai forced a laugh. Why did it seem like dating Luke was starting to become a recurring theme in her life? "I'm- I'm not dating Luke, mom."

"Mhmm." Emily said, clearly not believing her daughter.

"Mom." Lorelai stated. "There's... there's nothing is going on there."

"He seems to like you."

Lorelai couldn't help but smile, at the same time trying to dismiss the subject. " _What_ are you talking about, mother?"

"Lorelai, you must have seen the way he looked at you."

"Which was how, exactly?"

Emily smirked a little. "Like you were about to give him a lap dance."

Lorelai's cheeks started to redden as unbidden images appeared in her mind. She looked away, laughing nervously. "He did not."

"You're pleased." Emily pointed out.

"No, I'm not." Lorelai said, though her bright red cheeks betrayed her.

"You certainly look pleased." Emily smiled smugly. "You _like_ the idea that the ice man looked at you like a porterhouse steak."

"I do not. And _he_ did not." She insisted.

"You can't even stop smiling when you're talking about him."

"No, I'm smiling because you're crazy and that's what you do to crazy people to keep them calm." Lorelai shot back, but she was too flustered to put much of a sting in her words. Emily gave her daughter a final knowing look, but said no more. She was soon distracted with a picture of Lorelai with a broken leg, and Lorelai hoped that that would be the end of Emily's inquiries on her love life, or lack thereof.

Much to Lorelai's relief, her parents soon decided to depart. Not that it was entirely unpleasant, she thought, and likely to be repeated, in the far far distant future. Luke, too, it seemed had decided to leave, and Lorelai caught him on his way out the door after seeing her parents to their car.

"Hey, Rory, go back on in there, I'll just be a second." Lorelai said.

"Oh, wait a second." Luke said to Rory, and retrieved a now slightly dented card from his coat pocket. "Sorry, it looked better earlier."

"That's okay." She assured him and went inside to read her card, leaving Luke and Lorelai alone on the porch.

"So, thanks for coming." Lorelai said. "Did you have fun?"

"Yeah, it's a really great party. And the cops didn't show up, so I count that as a plus." He joked.

"Hey, the party isn't over yet." She grinned, then grew serious. "Can I just… Can we talk?"

Luke nodded. "Sure."

"The other day, at the diner," Lorelai started. "Were... were you gonna ask me…"

Luke began to grow nervous as he realized what she was talking about, and fidgeted with the cuff of his shirt. "Ask you what?"

Lorelai looked like she was going to say something, but shook her head and smiled at him. "Never mind. Have a nice night."

"Yeah, you too." Luke said. He turned to walk away, and Lorelai started to go back into the house. Luke was berating himself as he walked down the porch steps.

 _This is your shot! Ask her out!_

 _But-_

 _Do you really want her?_

 _Well..._

 _Then ask, dumbass!_

"Hey, Lorelai?" Luke stopped on the lawn and turned around.

Lorelai turned around when she heard him, and stood framed in the doorway. Luke almost held his breath.

"Yeah?"

"I- Do you wanna... hang out sometime?"

 _Okay, not quite asking her out on a date, but you're making progress._

Lorelai raised her eyebrows. "Uh, sure. Got anything in mind?"

"Uh…" He swallowed nervously. "Not right now, but I can think of something."

"Okay." She nodded slowly. "Well, uh, let me know and we'll… we'll hang out."

"Good." Luke smiled. "Good."

"Good." Lorelai echoed, and smiled back at him weirdly. "Looking forward to it."

"Good." He said again. "Me too."

They stood there awkwardly for several more minutes before either of them said anything.

"I- I'd better-" Luke gestured to the road.

"Yeahyeahyeah, me too." Lorelai smiled at him again. "See ya."

"See ya."

"Luke, wait!" Rory came flying out of the house, across the porch and the lawn, and hugged Luke tightly. "Thank you!"

"It's just a card." Luke said, feeling embarrassed by the hug.

"It's what you put _in_ the card." Rory said emphatically. "Thank you."

He smiled at her warmly. "Well, I meant it."

Rory smiled back at him and went back inside the house. Lorelai had watched the whole scene with much confused joy.

"What was _that_ about?" Lorelai grinned. "You stuff it full of twenties or something?"

"I, uh, wrote something in her birthday card." He said, somewhat awkwardly. "She'll probably show you."

"She better, that sounds like some card." Lorelai waved him off. "See ya, Luke."

"Night, Lorelai," He said, and turned and walked back to the diner.  
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Meanwhile, the elder Gilmores were preparing to depart. Richard looked over at his wife as he buckled his seatbelt, and frowned at her saddened expression.

"Emily?" He said.

She looked at him sadly. "She's right, Richard. I hardly know my daughter at all."

She turned to reach her seatbelt, but stopped. And stared. And after a moment, Richard turned to look too. Luke and Rory were standing on the lawn talking, and smiling, Lorelai looking on happily. There was an openness, a warmth about how the three of them interacted, even at a distance. Emily and Richard watched until Rory went inside and Luke started to walk away, leaving Lorelai with a strange happy smile on her face. Then Emily turned back to the windshield, quietly buckling her seatbelt.

"Let's go." Emily said softly. "Traffic."

Richard started the car and drove away without a word. Paradoxically, it appeared as if they knew their daughter and their granddaughter altogether too well, and too little, at the same time.

* * *

 ** _Luke's birthday message -_**

 _Only four short years ago, a twelve year old I barely knew came into the diner, and invited me to a memorial service for a caterpillar that you had tried to save. I hope that same love and compassion for your fellow creatures grows just as your knowledge and wisdom surely will, and helps shape you into the beautiful, kind young woman I know you will become._

 _Happy 16th birthday, Rory_


	2. Chapter 2 - Kiss and Tell

Luke saw Lorelai headed toward the diner. He moved to grab the coffee pot, and in his head, he practiced the conversation that he'd practiced a hundred times already.

 _Hi Luke._  
 **_Hey, Lorelai. Coffee?_ **  
_Sure._  
 **_Anything else?_ **  
_No thanks._  
 **_Great. So I was wondering, do you think we could have dinner sometime?_ **  
_Sounds great. What time?_  
 **_Tonight?_ **  
_Wow, that soon?_  
 **_Well, I don't wanna waste anymore time than I already have._ **  
_Well, tonight it is._  
 **_Great. By the way, if you could take a moment to sneak back to the storeroom so we could make out before you leave, that would be swell._ **

Luke took a deep breath. Okay, yeah, the last part was a little unlikely to even happen. But no one could sue him for a little wish fulfillment.

The bell on the door of the diner rang, signaling Lorelai's arrival. She sat down facing in front of the window facing the square, and Luke went over and greeted her just like he'd practiced.

"Hey. Coffee?"

"Sure."

"Anything else?" He asked as he poured.

"Just coffee for now, I'm meeting Rory." Lorelai nodded toward the Cornucopia charity table in the park.

"Oh, right." He paused to take a breath, bracing himself to ask her out, finally...

Which is exactly when more customers arrived. Luke groaned inwardly. He would have to wait to talk to Lorelai.

"I'll be back." Luke left the table, took orders, and delivered them as fast as humanly possible so that he could talk to Lorelai before he chickened out again. His last table was Miss Patty's.

"Oh, Luke, the food here is lovely, but you know what would make it even better?"

Luke clenched his jaw irritably. Of course Taylor would put her up to this. His voice was tense. "Let me guess, some autumn festival decorations?"

She smile magnanimously. "Well, food without ambiance isn't really food, is it?"

"More iced tea, Patty?" He asked, trying to draw this conversation to a quick close.

"Oh no, it's much too depressing in here for tea."

"You realize Taylor's a head case, right?"

She shrugged. "Yes, but at least he's a festive one."

He rolled his eyes. "Just eat, Patty."

Luke moved over to Lorelai's table once again, trying to push aside his irritation over the festival decorations. He noted that she could use a refill, and tried to start again.

"Coffee?"

Lorelai said nothing, just continued to look out the window. He waited for a moment, hoping that she'd notice him standing there. When she didn't, he sighed, allowing his impatience to slowly boil over as he fumed silently.

 _This has got to be about the decorations. She just heard me talking about them. Her and Patty and Taylor, always the ringleaders of these ridiculous, inane town festivals. And every year, no matter how much I say no, they keep trying to get me involved. Some people just don't feel like celebrating, what's hard to understand about that? What is wrong with people? Why can't everyone just leave me alone!_

"Aw, come on, are you mad at me too‽" He exploded, pulling Lorelai from her thoughts. "I mean, a man can't choose whether or not he wants a picture of a fat, stupid bird on his wall? My god, that's the reason the damn pilgrims came here in the first place!"

Lorelai replied in a more reasonable tone. "Luke, I wasn't snubbing you, I didn't hear you, and now I'm concerned about you."

Luke took a breath and dialed back his anger. "Sorry. Just feeling a little persecuted lately. Coffee?"

"Please."

 _This is **not** how it's supposed to go._ He glanced at her as he poured, and noted the look on her face. She looked worried. Maybe dinner would have to wait.

"You okay?"

"Yes, I'm fine." She said tersely.

"You don't look fine."

"Well, thank you."

He attempted to explain. "I just meant that you look concerned."

"I'm preoccupied." She clarified, which made nothing at all clearer to him.

He felt his frustration begin to build once more. "You _look_ concerned."

"Well, I'm not."

"Fine, you just look it."

"Hey, you know, some streamers would look so great in here!" Lorelai said with false cheer.

"Okay, I'm done." He walked away, passing Rory as he returned to the counter, and replaced the coffee pot on the machine. He started making some more coffee, knowing that it was only a matter of time before they'd need more. As he worked, he fumed at himself silently.

 _Stupid town, stupid festival, stupid Luke._

_You should just ask her and get it over with._

_No, it's gotta be right, it's gotta be perfect. There is no way I'm gonna screw this up. I may not get a second chance._

_There'll definitely be no second chances if you don't take a first chance._

The door bells sounded again, and Luke looked up, only to see Rory crossing the street outside away from the diner. Luke made his way back to Lorelai's table to leave the bill, trying to muster up the courage to attempt asking again.

 _Now, if you're gonna ask her out now, you probably shouldn't ask her why she looks concerned._ _That'll only make her mad. Just carry on a normal conversation. Don't even_ say _she looks concerned._ _Don't say she looks concerned. Don't say she looks concerned. Don't say she looks concerned..._

"Not going to say you look concerned." _Way to go, Butch._

"Not going to say how good you'd look dressed like one of the guys from the Crucible." She shot back.

"Fair enough." Luke quipped bitterly, and walked back to the kitchen.

 _In a town full of stupid and crazy, I am the reigning king._

 _ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . _

As Luke was fighting the urge to gently pound his head against the wall, or in lieu of that to form a dunce cap from one of the menus and sit on a stool in the corner, Ryan, one of the servers, came up to him.

"We're out of cream."

"Did you check the fridge?"

"Yeah, there's nothing there. You want me to go to Doose's and pick some up?" Ryan offered.

Luke sighed. "No, I'll do it. Just watch the diner for a couple minutes, alright?"

Doose's was only a block away, and Luke had planned on getting in and out as fast as he could. Until he saw Lorelai. He smiled, thinking that this could be his second chance, and reached out to tap her on the shoulder.

"Hey-"

"Oh, god!" She practically jumped out of her skin at his touch, causing Luke to jump also. Then looked over her shoulder as if she was seeing if anybody had seen the strange interaction. "W-w-what are you doing?"

He looked at her like she had lost her mind, which was actually a normal look on him. "What are _you_ doin'?"

"I asked you first."

"I ran out of cream."

She glanced behind her again. Luke looked past her, trying to see what she was looking at.

"Yeah, me too." She replied, distracted.

"What are you starin' at?" He looked past her again, but she started pushing him toward the end of the aisle.

"Nothing. Don't look, don't look."

Luke stared at her. This, on top of their tense conversation in the diner, seemed extremely weird, even for Lorelai. "What is wrong with you today?"

She looked at him with a serious expression. He braced himself for anything, including a stalker, or an angry ex, or-

"Rory got kissed."

He blinked at her. "What?"

Lorelai had continued to move them along, and they proceeded to hide at the end of the aisle, still watching the kid. "Rory had her first kiss, and that guy did it."

"Ah, the new kid." _Well, at least that explains why she's acting so weird._

"Yep."

 _Rory's growing up fast._ He thought fondly.

Lorelai was far less sentimental. "Oh, look at him. Look at how smug he is."

He looked at her, bemused. "He's bagging groceries. It's hard to be smug bagging groceries."

"Ugh!" She scoffed, not acknowledging him. "Look how he just handled those lemons!"

"What are you talkin' about?"

"He threw them in the bag. Not tossed them or placed them, but threw them, like they meant nothing to him!"

"They're lemons." He tried to reason with her.

"They're symbolic."

Luke was slowly starting to realize that if not stopped, Lorelai would be in full on rant mode. He'd been on the receiving end of one of her angry rants enough times to know that he didn't wish that on anyone.

Except Taylor.

Maybe Kirk.

"Okay, we need to get you out of here." He tugged on her coat, trying to get her to follow him, but she remained fixed.

"No." She protested. "That Lothario over there has wormed his way into my daughter's heart and mouth and for that he must die!"

"That's it, let's go." He tried to guide her toward the door but she wouldn't budge. He leveled his gaze at her. "You're not gonna kill the bag boy."

She grinned at him mischievously, and shot another glance at the new kid. "Why not?"

"Because it's double coupon day, you'll bring down the town." Luke grabbed her by the arm and marched her out of the store, Lorelai complaining the whole time.

"Okay, okay, I'm out, stop pushing me!"

He didn't stop until they were outside the market, and stood with his arms akimbo, confronting her. "What are you thinking, spyin' on that kid like that?"

She pouted a little. "I don't know, I just wanted to see him. I mean, I've seen him already, but that was before he was-"

"Rory's boyfriend?" The words sounded strange even as he said them. However, he was determined to be the rational one right now.

Loreali frowned at him. "Shush you."

"She's growing up." Luke said.

"I know."

"There's nothing you can do about that."

She scowled at him. "Okay, Mister Reality, break into somebody else's house."

"Sorry." He turned and started walking back to the diner. Lorelai followed.

"Why didn't she tell me about the kiss?"

"Maybe she didn't know you'd take it so well."

"Wanna hear something crazy?"

"Cause all the talk until now has been so normal?" He muttered.

She put a hand on his arm and stopped to talk to him at the edge of the sidewalk, and glanced through the window at the boy.

"He kinda looks like Christopher." She half-whispered to him.

"The grocery kid?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yeah. He looks like Christopher."

Luke wracked his brain to remember Lorelai mentioning any Christopher. Maybe a friend, or an old flame, or...

"Christopher is Rory's dad." Luke realized slowly.

She nodded, oblivious to Luke's thought process. "The hair, the build, something about the eyes. He reminds me of Christopher."

"Well, that's not too surprising." He looked at her pointedly. She glared at him, and they kept walking through the crosswalk towards Luke's.

"You're gonna quote Freud to me? Cause I'll push you in front of a moving car." She said. "This talk was going so well."

"You and Rory are a lot alike, it's not surprising that you would have similar taste in men." Luke explained.

"I guess." Lorelai sighed, and stopped walking again once they were on the other side of the street. "But _why_? Why didn't she tell me? We tell each other everything."

Luke shook his head. "This is different."

"But, we tell each other everything else," Lorelai said. "But this she keeps a secret. It's cause it's a guy thing."

"Probably."

"Well, that's not good. I have to make her understand that I'm okay with the guy thing, cause not talking about guys and our personal lives, that's me and my mom, that is not me and Rory."

He looked at her questioningly. " _Are_ you okay with the guy thing?"

Lorelai looked away awkwardly and started walking down the sidewalk once more. "Yes."

 _Oh, you are **so** not okay with this._

"Really?" He challenged her.

"Okay, -ish." She confessed.

"That's not okay."

"That's okay with an -ish."

"Whatever you say."

"She just, she thinks I'll disapprove, right?" She asked.

Luke was going to answer her, but she kept talking. "Well I won't. I will show her that I think this is great. Once she sees that I think this is great, everything will be back to normal between us, right?"

He tried to speak again, and was again interrupted.

"Right!" Lorelai exclaimed happily. "Okay, good."

Luke nodded, resigned to the fact that he had become irrelevant in the latter part of the conversation. "So you passed the need for an actual person to talk to several minutes ago?"

"Oh, yeah, before the gelato stand." She said, gesturing behind them.

Luke shook his head. "You're an amazing woman."

"Thank you for noticing." She smiled at him. They kept walking down the street together and were nearly back to the diner, when Lorelai turned to him and spoke again. "Hey, didn't you need cream?"

Luke stopped on the sidewalk. "Yeah, I do. Thanks."

Lorelai turned around and started going back the direction they came. "I'll go with you."

Luke caught her by the arm, stopping her once more. "You're not gonna spy on the bag boy again."

"I'm not!" She insisted, and gestured in the direction of Doose's. "I am simply accompanying you to the market."

"I prefer into shop unescorted, thank you. Go home."

Lorelai tsked at him. "Mean."

Luke stood waiting for her to leave. "Well?"

"Fine." She pouted, and headed in the direction of her house, and Luke headed back to the market and got the cream that he'd gone there to get. As he stood in the check-out line however, he spotted the bag boy out of the corner of his eye. He'd never admit it to her, but the longer he waited and watched, the more he began to agree with Lorelai. This kid was trouble.

"Hey, you're one of the Forester kids, right? New in town? We haven't actually been introduced yet." Luke held out his hand for the boy to shake. "Luke Danes, I own the diner."

"Yeah, I know. I'm Dean." He shook Luke's hand, and winced. "You, uh, have a really strong handshake."

Luke gave him a cool, polite smile that he mostly kept reserved for annoying customers. "So how are you liking Stars Hollow?"

"It's… nice." Dean said. He started to look a little nervous. "Small, but nice."

"Yeah, it is. I'm guessing you're from a bigger place than this?"

"Yeah, Chicago."

"Chicago, huh? You a Cubs fan?"

"Uh, not really."

"Not really into baseball?"

Dean shrugged. "I play, a little. I just usually play whatever sport everyone else is, I guess. Baseball, basketball, whatever."

 _Keep your friends close, and keep your best friend's daughter's boyfriends even closer._ He thought. Out loud, he said, "You know, there's a group of us that plays a pick-up game of baseball once in awhile. I know the school doesn't have a team, so it's not like you have to keep in practice but it's something to do on the weekends. Interested?"

"Uh, sure." Dean nodded. "Just let me know when it is I'll let you know if I can make it."

Luke nodded curtly. "Okay. See ya around. Watch those lemons."

"O...kay, see you around?" Dean handed Luke his bags, and Luke went back to the diner. Behind him, he could hear Dean wonder out loud. "What did he say about the lemons?"

All in all, Luke thought it was a pretty successful errand.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The day after "movie night", Lorelai came into the diner, and sat on the stool nearest the register, where Luke was already standing.

"So how was movie night with Dean?" Luke asked casually.

Lorelai was confused for a moment. "Who-?

"Babette."

She rolled her eyes. "Of course."

"She was in here this morning, talkin' about Rory's new boyfriend." He said pointedly. "I assume she was talking about Dean."

Lorelai scoffed. "You know, she kidnapped him before he even got to our house, kept him there for almost half an hour. It completely freaked out Rory."

"So, I guess you're taking the "guy thing" a little better?"

"A little." Lorelai admitted. "Actually, I had a talk with him last night when Rory left the room."

Luke nodded understandingly. "Ah, _the_ talk."

"Yep."

"And what'd you say?"

"I told him that if anything happened to her, he'd be run out of town."

"Good answer." Luke said. "How'd he take it?"

"Pretty well."

"Meaning?"

"He asked me not to hate him."

It was Luke's turn to be confused. "Why?"

"He said it's because Rory values my opinion, and if I hated him, she wouldn't go out with him." Lorelai shrugged. "He's probably right."

"He's smart, I'll give him that." Luke said. "So what are you gonna do?"

Lorelai sighed and looked at him. "I guess I'm gonna try not to hate him. I mean, Rory's gotta have a first boyfriend sooner or later, and the next boy that comes along might be worse. Dean seems nice enough, right?"

"Right." He nodded in agreement, and looked over at her staring into her coffee.

"He did say the weirdest thing though." She said.

"What was that?"

"That I wasn't the first person to mention the lemons to him?" Lorelai frowned. "And that he finally 'got it'? What was that about?"

"Ah." Luke rubbed his neck, somewhat embarrassed. "I, uh, might have said something about the lemons to him the other day."

A grin started to spread slowly across her face. "You did?"

"Yeah." He nodded. "I mean, you were right, about the lemons, and you know how Taylor is."

"Yes, I do."

Luke kept up the pretense. "So I thought that if Taylor saw him throwing around produce like that, he'd have a fit, and... that's just not fair to the kid. Being new and all."

"Very neighborly of you." Lorelai congratulated him mildly. "I'm sure he appreciates it."

"Yeah, well. Maybe." He looked up at her. _Maybe this was his chance…_ "Hey, Lorelai-"

A cheery tone erupted from her purse and Lorelai shot him an apologetic glance, and answered the phone. "Hello?"

Luke turned and pointed at the No Cell Phones sign.

"Alright, alright." Lorelai muttered, and exited the diner. Luke sighed to himself as he watched her go.

 _Okay, maybe_ not _this time._

* * *

 _I've been debating all week whether or not to included the entirety of Luke and Lorelai's conversation about Dean. I took it out, then I put it back in, I took out part of it and tried to sum it up, but it doesn't seem to work without the whole conversation. I hope it didn't drag on too much for you guys._

 _{EDIT} So I added the bit about the lemons. That was another thing I had debated but originally left out. So now it's back in. I hope you all found it as humorous as I did. {EDIT}_


	3. Chapter 3 - Love & War & Snow - Part 1

_This is really where I start to take leave of canon. This also includes one of the first scenes I wrote in the story. The very first scene I wrote was in Christopher Returns, and boy, does that one pack a wallop. But you'll see that later._

 _{EDIT} Also, Love War Snow is now divided into parts one and two. {EDIT}_

* * *

 _ **Snow.**  
_

The feeling was imminent now. Lorelai could almost taste the snow that was about to fall, it was so close. She excitedly pulled on her gloves and hat and rushed to drive into town as safely as she could take a walk in the first snowfall of the season. It was only a few minutes away now, and nothing was going to stop her from her annual observance.

The fluffy white snowflakes began to fall as Lorelai got to the center of town. When she saw the reeactors emerge from Miss Patty's, she decided to walk over and watch them assemble. It was always a good show. Harry and Taylor would butt heads over who should go where. Some would want to stand, some wanted to kneel, and a few, like Kirk, wouldn't be able to make his mind and keep going back and forth.

As Lorelai drew passed the diner, she could hear Luke and a few of the reenactors bickering. She laughed, and Luke turned to look when he heard her. She was watching the reenactors, smiling giddily at him. "There goes the fire chief, the police chief, and the one paramedic with a valid license. I feel safe, don't you?"

Luke watched the reenactors head toward the square, shaking his head in derision. "Look at them, all relatively intelligent men, but there they are, dressed up in costumes, standing out in a snowstorm and for what?"

She looked him in shock. "Because it's _tradition_!"

Luke could hear the impish threat on her lips, to burst out singing that song from Fiddler on the Roof. He turned to her and started ranting in a desperate attempt to forestall it's live and very enthusiastic performance.

"Tradition is a trap that allows people to stick their heads in the sand. Everything in the past was so quaint, so charming, times were simpler. Kids didn't have sex. Neighbors knew each other. It's a freakin' fairy tale. Things sucked then too, it just sucked without indoor plumbing."

Oddly, Lorelai's good mood only seemed to improve with Luke's rant.

"I think some traditions are nice." Lorelai replied blithely. "Birthdays, holidays, taking a walk in the first snow of the season."

Lorelai hadn't stopped smiling infectiously almost the entire time they'd been talking, and Luke was not immune. He tried to hide it as he spoke and he failed utterly, a smile beginning to form even as he tried to hold onto his protective grumpy exterior.

"I didn't get the hallmark card for that one." He admitted, knowing that she would more than likely expound on the story behind her statement. And she did not disappoint.

"When I was five, I had a really bad ear infection, and I had been home in bed for a week, and I was really sad. So I wished really hard that something wonderful would happen to me, and I woke up the next morning, and it had snowed. And I was sure that some fairy godmother had done it just for me. It was my little present."

"Your parents never explain the concept of weather to you?"

Lorelai rolled her eyes at him. "I'm making a point, Mouthy McGee. Of course, many years later, I realized that logically, the snow was not there for me personally, but still, when it snows, something inside me says, "hey, that's your present"." She sighed, content. "I don't think it'll ever change."

Luke turned to look at the reenactors again. He didn't have such specific memories about snow. Stuff he did, that his family did when it was snowing, there was that of course. Many snowy evenings, they all ended up in the living room around the fireplace. His father, a natural story teller, could make any story come alive for his kids. It made quiet evening at home in the winter, especially at Christmas, all that more magical.

Then there was the normal, childish fun of winter. Making snowmen in the yard. Snowball fights at school. A specially made slush ball for certain people in Stars Hollow. Coming home to spiced mulled cider, made to mom's own recipe. It may have taken his father years to find the coupon drawer, but the family cookbook remained faithfully on the shelf, his mother's handwriting notes in the margins and favorite recipes copied from other books were all there. Even in his apartment now, he still kept it in the cupboards above the stove.

Luke wasn't used to sharing his past with anyone. Partly because most everyone in Stars Hollow already knew, and partly because those who didn't were too afraid to ask. When he did, he often felt as if he were offering up bits of himself, unsure if it would be acceptable. But sometimes when he was talking to Lorelai, like now, it felt right to share something. Even natural. _A story for a story_ , his father used to say. _I'll tell a story if I hear one first._

Luke pointed at the reenactors with his thumb. "My father used to be one of those guys."

"Yeah?" Lorelai sounded intrigued, which gave him the courage to go on.

"Yeah. Even had his own musket."

"Really?"

Luke nodded. "Never had to rent it."

"Where's the musket now?"

"He was buried with it."

"Wow."

"Yep, he loved that musket."

"That's nice," she commented, "In a disturbing sort of way."

He turned to her, smiling appreciatively. The hazy cast of false twilight from the twinkle lights around town, combined with the lazy fall of big fluffy flakes and the surreal feeling of... home made it all feel as if he were dreaming. This all built up to this scene which they shared, he and Lorelai standing in the snowfall. Maybe she was right. Maybe the snow was magic.

Whatever the case, Luke felt more at ease than he had been in a long time. He spoke to Lorelai, very casually, "You know, I never did get back to you on the hanging out thing."

She tilted her head to look, and gave him a big, lop-sided smile. "No, you didn't."

 _Ask her now, now, now!_ His mind screamed at him. Before he could be interrupted by something else, he said, "I've gotta finish some stuff in the diner, but if you want, you can hang out here, I'll get you some coffee and then we can… I don't know, play cards or something."

Lorelai hesitated.

"I mean, if you didn't have other plans." He quickly added.

She shook her head. "Nah, all I really planned on doing was enjoying a walk in the snow."

"The snow'll still be there in an hour." He reminded her.

"I might consider it." Lorelai smiled at him again, this time mischievously. "I couldn't tempt you to join me for a snow walk, could I?"

Luke took a moment, crossed his arms, and pretended to grump. "Well… maybe."

"Really‽" Lorelai grabbed his arm, and jumped up and down excitedly.

" _Maybe_." He stressed. "After I close the diner."

"Yes!" She threaded one of her arms through his as they headed back to the diner, and Luke opened the the door to let Lorelai in first.

"So where's Rory?"

Lorelai took a seat at the counter. "She's stuck in Hartford with parents."

"Well, that sounds like fun." He said sarcastically.

Lorelai shrugged. "Yeah, well, she's the one they like. Better her than me."

"Their loss."

"Aw, you're sweet." She looked around the diner. "Wow, it's empty. Is it always this empty at night?"

"Sometimes. When it is, I usually close early."

"But you're still here most fridays after dinner at my parent's house."

Luke shrugged. "Well, I'm here, I'm cause I'm usually cleaning and prepping for the next day."

"But you still serve me and Rory. Even though you're usually closed?"

"Every friday, you come in here, I _tell you_ I'm closed." He reminded her. "Did you think I was kidding?"

"I thought you were trying to keep away from the coffee."

"Well, that is part of it."

"So you let us in and hang out after you're officially closed?" Lorelai was touched. "Why on earth would you do that?"

Luke shrugged, and busied himself with making coffee while they talked. "Cause… you guys are my friends, and I know that you going to your parents house isn't the most fun thing in the world for you, and hanging out here seems to cheer you up, so…"

"Oh, Luke."

Luke became embarrassed by the tenderness in her voice, and tried to dismiss it. "It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal." Lorelai insisted. "It means a lot. Thank you."

He turned around to face her, and smiled genuinely. "You're welcome."

They shared a Moment. A real uninterrupted Moment, that they both shared and understood. Then the moment was over, as quick as it had begun, and just as quickly forgotten.

"Oh! Hey, if you're closed, how about we play sugar football!"

"No."

"Oh, come on!"

"No."

"Come on, Luke!"

"You can help me clean up if you're desperate for something to do."

Lorelai slouched dejectedly. "Fine."

Luke was a little surprised."I was just kidding."

Lorelai shrugged. "You've stayed open late for me and Rory a dozen times at least. The least I can do is help. Besides, the sooner you get done, the sooner we can take our walk."

"Uh, okay." Luke was still surprised by the offer, but wasn't about to turn down any time spent in her presence. "You can wipe down the table. Rags are under the sink, cleaner's in the store room."

The cleaning and closing up of the diner went a lot faster with two people working, and Lorelai seemed to find the fun of it. Luke could hardly remember another evening that he'd been as exasperated at her, or laughed that much. After they'd finished, Luke stood by the window, looking at the reenactors and shaking his head. "I can't believe they're still out there, it's freezing."

Lorelai joined him by the window. "Hope they remembered to their thermal underwear."

"They're gonna freeze to death."

"No they won't." Lorelai assured him. "Once the snow drift covers them, they'll stay warm. Kinda like an igloo."

"This is nuts." Luke shook his head again.

"Do you think Harry let them have thermoses? I can't imagine being out in a snowstorm without coffee, or at least a cup of cocoa."

"Harry's a stickler for accuracy." Luke commented wryly. "Unless they had thermoses in the seventeen hundreds, he wouldn't have allowed it."

"Do they really stay out there all night?"

Luke nodded. "Every year, for as long as I can remember."

"Should we do something?"

"Like what? Call the guys with butterfly nets?" He scoffed.

"No, I mean, like, bring them snacks or something."

"My mom tried that one year." He smiled at the memory. "Harry got really mad about how the original twelve men stood out there all night cold and hungry, and that they weren't going to eat until they were officially relieved of duty that next morning."

Luke was pulled out of his recollection when Lorelai giggled. He looked at her quizzically.

She giggled again. "Doody."

Luke rolled his eyes at her. "What are you, five?"

"Oh, come on, like you didn't think that." She shot back.

"When I actually was five, yes." Luke retorted, and turned his attention back to the reenactors. "Maybe Harry'd let them have some coffee."

"Are you gonna bring it to them?" Lorelai asked. She'd meant it jokingly, but Luke answered anyway.

"Well, Taylor and Harry aren't gonna let them come in here and get it."

"Aw, Luke, you old softie." Lorelai said in a cutesy tone.

"Stop it." He protested.

"You want some help?" She offered.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

About twenty minutes later, they were headed toward the square, bearing a tray of coffee.

"Hello, fellow patriots." Lorelai said in a mock deep voice. "We come bearing warm grog for the weary soldiers."

"Don't encourage them." Luke grumbled.

"What's this?" Harry asked.

Luke handed him a cup. "We brought you coffee."

"No, thank you." He proudly refused.

"Come on, it's freezing out here." Lorelai said. "You would be a tiny bit warmer with a cup of coffee in your hands."

Harry stood his ground. "When our forefathers stood out here many moons ago, they didn't have any coffee!"

"How do you know?" Luke argued. "Do you have written documentation about what sort of beverages they did or did not have on that long, historic night of standing?"

Harry glowered at him. "This is still a joke to you, young man. I don't choose to be a joke. We don't need your coffee!"

"Harry, please. Just take the coffee."

Harry stared resolutely back at him.

"My father would have taken the coffee." Luke added.

This seemed to be enough to placate the mayor's pride. "Well, alright, then. Thank you."

Luke sighed in relief, and continued to pass out the rest of the coffees. "Andrew?"

"Thanks Luke."

"Kirk?"

"You got any herbal tea?"

"Not on me, but I can get some."

"With a squeeze of lemon?"

"I'll get it." Lorelai volunteered. "Herbal tea for anyone else?"

"I'll could really go for some cocoa."

"Oh that sounds good. Cocoa for me too."

"Hold on, I need to write this down." Lorelai searched her pockets for some paper. "Luke, do you have a pen?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Behind them, no one noticed the van from the Independence Inn that drove by, after picking up an abandoned motorist at the garage. Its single passenger was staring out the window aimlessly, and almost missed the scene in square. He blinked and rubbed his eyes, then looked again. Was that Lorelai? Or just someone who looked like her? Max shook his head. It couldn't have been Lorelai. It was Friday, she would be in Hartford for dinner. One of the many obstacles to an actual date.

It was probably just wishful thinking.


	4. Chapter 4 - Movie Night

**_Spoilers for those who haven't seen The Breakfast Club!_**

* * *

Luke knocked on the door of the Gilmore house. He heard Lorelai shout from inside.

"It's open!"

He rolled his eyes and opened the door. "It's not safe to leave your door unlocked all the time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Lorelai appeared as she walked from the kitchen to the living room carrying snacks for the movie. "You bring pie?"

"You told me I had to. Where do you want it?"

Lorelai gasped. "Dirty!"

Luke immediately blushed. "Jeez."

"Just bring it into the living room. Rory, grab some plates and forks on your way in here!" She turned back to Luke. "You remembered the fries too, right?"

"Yep."

"And some ketchup!" Lorelai added.

"Okay." Rory replied.

"We weren't sure what kinds of movies you like or what you've seen, so we got a bunch of different choices, and thought we'd let you pick which ones you wanna watch tonight. You cannot go wrong with any of them. You've got your classics; Fiddler on the Roof, Gone With The Wind, which is a little bit longer which means that it'll be the only one you have to watch tonight, It's a Wonderful Life, Bringing Up Baby. A few eighties favorites; Ferris Bueller's Day Off, The Breakfast Club, Dirty Dancing. A couple of musicals; Westside Story, Grease. And, last but not least, The Little Rascals. So, which ones haven't you seen? We'll narrow down from there."

"Well, I've seen little rascals, but not that one." He picked it up to look at it. "The one I saw was in black and white, this one's newer."

"Ooh-kay." Lorelai said, moving that one to the side. "But what about the other ones?"

"I've seen "It's a Wonderful Life"." He shrugged. "That's it."

Lorelai looked at him, aghast. "You're kidding."

"No."

"You've never seen any of these?" She gestured to the rest of the movies.

"No, I haven't."

"What about other movies? Like, Casablanca?"

"No."

"You've _never_ seen Casablanca?"

"Look, can we just-"

"Chinatown?"

"Lorelai, do you want me to pick a movie or what?"

"Bonnie and Clyde."

Luke picked up a movie at random. "I picked a movie, now can we please just stop talking about this?"

"It happened one night? His girl friday? Treasure of the Sierra Madre?" Lorelai kept asking. " _Diner_ ‽"

Luke sighed, knowing that this line of questioning would continue until he answered her. "I saw Mr. and Mrs. Bridge?"

Lorelai covered her mouth in shock. "Oh, my god. We have a _lot_ of work to do."

"Ah, boy." Luke sighed.

Lorelai took the movie he was holding and headed toward the vcr to put it in. "Breakfast Club, good choice."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

About twenty minutes into the movie, Luke looked over uneasily at Lorelai. "Is it okay that Rory's seeing this?"

"I was only a year older than her when I saw it." Lorelai shrugged.

"I've seen it before anyway." Rory said.

"How did you not see this movie when it came out?" Lorelai asked. "You're not that much older than me. You're definitely in the age range of the movie's target audience."

"I didn't go to the movies a whole lot." Luke said. "I was working."

"All the time? You were, what, eighteen, nineteen, twenty? Working in your dad's hardware store, you couldn't take two hours to see a movie?"

"My dad was sick." Luke said quietly. "I _had_ to work."

Lorelai refrained from saying anything else. For a while, at least. After a few moments, Lorelai couldn't help herself.

"So which one were you?" Lorelai asked Luke.

"Which one what?"

"The brain, the athlete, the basket case, the princess, and the criminal." Lorelai rattled off.

"She trying to figure out which archetype you fit into." Rory told him. "I'm the brain."

"I'm thinking you were either Bender or, what was the athlete kid's name?"

"Andrew." Rory supplied.

"Right, you were either Bender or Andrew."

"I was not Bender." Luke defended. "And doesn't this defeat the entire point of the movie?"

"You haven't even seen the movie, how do you know what it's about?"

"Because I'm not an idiot." He gestured toward the tv screen. "Everything I needed to know was right there in the beginning of the movie. They're all trying so hard not to be defined by their parents, their situations in life. Doesn't it defeat the point of the movie if you take those titles and assign them to other people?"

"Come on, Luke, please?"

Luke sighed and relented. "I was on the track team, so I guess, the athlete. Would've played baseball but the school didn't have a team."

"So, somewhere between the athlete and the brain."

"What?"

"Track is for nerds and losers. You were a mathlete."

"I was not a mathlete." Luke said. "Math was one of my worst subject. Actually, every subject was my worst subject subject, I barely passed. Didn't even go to my high school graduation. I only got into college on a scholarship."

Lorelai frowned. "I didn't know you went to college."

"I didn't." Luke shook his head. "Not really. I flunked out in freshman year. Wrenched my knee in practice one day and I was benched for the season. Then my dad got sick-"

"And you had to take over the store." Lorelai finished.

Luke nodded. "For a while. He got better, but he still needed the help, so I stayed working at the store. Didn't go back, didn't graduate."

Lorelai was silent for a moment. "Did you want to?"

Luke shrugged. "It would've made my dad happier, I think. He didn't like it that I quit school, quit track. I could've gone back and joined the team again the next year, but it didn't matter as much to me."

Lorelai nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I get it. I mean, I technically graduated high school, I got my diploma, but I didn't do the whole cap and gown thing."

"Why not?"

"Because I wanted Rory to be there." Lorelai said. "She was only a baby, but it was important to me for her to be there, and my parents wouldn't take her, and the school wouldn't let me hold her when I went up and my parents wouldn't take her, and... it just wasn't worth it without her there. So I just didn't go. But hey, at least she'll see me graduate business school. Hopefully."

"She will." Luke assured her.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Gross!" Lorelai and Rory chorused when Ally makes it "snow" on her drawing. Luke smirked.

"I thought you liked the snow." He mocked.

"Snow, yes. Dandruff, _ugh_." Lorelai made a face and shivered.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Hey, Luke, did you ever get detention?" Rory asked.

"No comment." He muttered.

"Mom, did you?"

"Yup."

"What for?" Rory asked. Luke wanted to hear the answer to that question.

"Aside from the usual skipping school, I was often sent for talking in class."

"Now why doesn't that surprise me." Luke said.

"Oh, you think I'm bad now." Lorelai retorted. "Believe me, I was way worse in high school. Total diarrhea of the mouth."

"Oh, gra-ross." Rory objected.

Lorelai turned to Luke. "So, out with it. What were you sent to detention for?"

He rolled his eyes. "Can we get back to the movie, please?"

"No, spill!" Lorelai paused the movie.

"Fine." Luke sighed. "There _might_ have been... an incident involving... a duck... and my teacher's car."

"You're kidding!" Lorelai cackled as Rory stared with wide eyes.

"What kind of incident?" Rory asked. "What happened to the duck? Did it get hurt?"

"The duck was fine." Luke assured her. "Mr. Patters gave me a low grade on a paper I worked really hard on and I didn't think I deserved it, so I found a duck and found out where he lived and put the duck in his car overnight."

"You didn't." Rory was aghast. Lorelai was still laughing.

"You said the duck was fine." Lorelai settle down enough to say. "But what about the car?"

"The car? The car was never the same after that." He smirked. "He had the upholstery completely redone, the carpets cleaned, had the car completely detailed but he still complained that the car smelled."

"How'd they trace it back to you?" Rory asked.

"I returned a book to the library about the care and keeping of waterfowl." Luke said sheepishly. "The librarian made the connection, who told my dad, who told the school. I got detention for the next six weeks."

"You learn your lesson?" Lorelai asked.

Luke shook his head and grinned. "No. Did you?"

Lorelai just grinned back at him. A few minutes later, she was giggling helplessly. Rory and Luke looked as her quizzically. She explained in between fits of laughter.

"Up-poultry. Get it? Upholstery? Up. Poultry. Up-poultry!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

At one point, Luke looked over and say Rory covering her face, not watching the movie. Lorelai had her arm wrapped around her daughter and was rubbing her arm.

"Is she okay?" Luke asked.

"Oh, she's fine." Lorelai assured him. "It's just this next scene is a little hard for her to handle."

Luke turned back to the screen, and frowned. It was just the characters, walking around, stretching their legs. Bender was throwing papers around. "What about it?"

"The book." Lorelai said quietly.

"The what?"

"The book!" Rory said, obviously upset. "He's ruining it, he's tearing pages out of the book!"

"Oh, I know baby." Lorelai consoled her. She looked over at Luke. "She gets a little upset when people destroy books. She left a copy of the Swiss Family Robinson out in the rain and it got ruined when she was eight, and she was distraught for weeks. It was like a death in the family."

"It was unreadable by the time we found it." Rory pouted. "And a little moldy. We buried it in the front lawn of the inn, because they were redoing some of the landscaping. Every time I see tulips, I think about that book."

"I see." Luke said.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Who only puts one slice of bologna on a kid's sandwich like that?" Luke complained.

"Kids whose parents don't give a crap about them." Lorelai said. "If you give it another second, thought, there'll be something else to complain about."

"Is that sugar?"

Lorelai nodded. "There it is."

"And cereal? Oh, that is disgusting." Luke made a face.

"Yeah, even I'm a little grossed out by that." Rory admitted.

"Do you think there was mayonnaise on the bread?" Lorelai asked. "Cause that'd be really gross."

"Yeah, cause eating a sugar sandwich with extra sugary cereal on it very normal." Luke said.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Wait, so now they're sneaking out?" Luke asked.

"Well yeah." Lorelai said. "It's gotta happen at least once."

"When did they decide they were gonna sneak out?"

"I don't know."

"Do they get caught?"

"That _would_ be telling."

"Why are they going to his locker?"

"You'll see."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"How big _is_ this school?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"That…" Lorelai said, talking about the scene where Bender takes off to protect the other kids from being discovered by the teacher. "Is the high school equivalent of throwing yourself on a grenade to keep your buddies from getting blown to bits."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"He's not really gonna smoke it, are they?" Luke asked.

"What do you think?" Lorelai asked.

(Clair gets up and follows Bender)

"Are they really gonna smoke in the library?" Luke asked.

"Yup." Rory said.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Hey, Luke?"

"What?"

"Did you smoke pot in high school?"

"What? No!"

"Not once?"

"My dad would've kicked my ass if he ever caught me smoking pot."

"So you didn't?" Lorelai asked pointedly. "You were never offered one, one of your girlfriends or teammates never gave you a joint, or some pot brownies? Never went to a party, tried any kind of recreational-"

Luke turned to face her. "Look, it was bad enough that my sister got into all that stuff, he didn't need both of us breakin' his heart."

"Okay, okay, sorry." Lorelai immediately backed down. Luke turned back to face the movie just as Andrew came out of the office.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

("So why do you have a fake ID?")

("So I can vote.")

"Mom-"

"No."

"But I didn't-"

"No."

"You know I would never-"

"No."

Luke turned to look at them. "What?"

"Nothing, you don't need to know." Lorelai told him.

"Okay." He went back to the movie.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Okay, this is really making me uncomfortable." Luke said as Claire and Ally verbally spared on screen.

"We can fast forward a little bit if you want."

"You let Rory watch this?" Luke looks around. "Speaking of which, when did Rory leave?"

"What?" Lorelai looked around, and got up and went to the kitchen while Luke paused the movie. Lorelai came back with a note. "" _Mom, forgot I was going to hang out with Lane tonight. Sorry for sticking you with Luke, but I already promised. See you tomorrow, Rory."_ I swear that kid…"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Do you think that's true?" Lorelai asked.

"Think what's true?" Luke asked.

"That we're doomed to become our parents?"

"No." Luke said. "At least, I don't think so. Maybe, I don't know."

"That's not an answer." Lorelai said. "If you woke up one morning and realized that you'd become your dad, what would you think?"

"There are worse people to turn out like than your parents." Luke said.

"My parents?" Lorelai asked.

"Parents in general." Luke corrected.

"You must've had nice parents."

"What do you say that?"

"Because if you had bad parents, you wouldn't have said that." Lorelai said. "If you had bad parents, or a bad childhood, then there'd be nothing worse than growing up and realizing that you'd just repeated the cycle."

"And what about you, if you woke up one day and found out that you'd turned out like your mom, or even your dad, would that be so bad?"

"My worst nightmare."

"Really?" Luke said doubtfully.

She nodded grimly. "You've clearly never met my parents."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"This is one of the most iconic dance scenes in film history." Lorelai said.

"It's just a bunch of kids goofing off."

"That's what makes it so perfect."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

After the movie, Lorelai walked Luke out to the porch. Luke was full of questions.

"Do you think Bender and Clair got together after that?"

"I don't know, maybe." Lorelai shrugged. "The better question is whether or not they would've made it."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, if they did get together, start dating, would they have enough in common to stay together?" Lorelai postulated. "Or at least like each other enough to put up with each other being polar opposites."

"They weren't polar opposites." Luke said. "They just didn't see what all they had in common cause it wasn't obvious."

"Yeah. I guess. Hey, do you think we would've gotten along in high school?" Lorelai asked.

"I don't know." Luke said. "Maybe. Though, you probably wouldn't have been caught dead with a track kid."

"I don't know, you're, what? Four years older than me? Hanging out with the older kids automatically make you cooler. Doesn't matter what they do. I doubt you would have wanted to hang out with me."

"What? Why?"

"Well, I was kind of a brat." She shrugged. "I didn't care what anyone thought about what I did or said or anything. All that mattered was what I wanted to do. Until Rory came along and then it was all about what I needed to do for her, for the pregnancy. Well, once I finally accepted that I _was_ pregnant. I didn't have time to care about what other people thought, or at least I pretended I didn't. But once people found out, boy did I find out who my real friends were."

"Yeah?"

Lorelai nodded. "Yup. Not one of them stuck around."

Luke was shocked. "None of them?"

"Not a one. Good riddance, I say."

They let the conversion drop to silence for a few moments before Luke picked it up again. "I'm sorry."

"What for? What's past is passed."

"No, I mean, I'm sorry we didn't get the chance to be friends then. Sounds like you could've used one."

She smiled at him softly. "Thanks. I still can, you know. From time to time."

He smiled back. "Well, you know where to find me. Good night."

"Night." Lorelai watched from the porch as he made his way back to the diner. And as Rory came sneaking up the sidewalk to the house. Lorelai knew that Rory couldn't see her from where she was standing and let her get all the porch before acknowledging her.

"So."

Rory jumped. "God! Don't scare me like that."

"Random hang out session with Lane, huh?" Lorelai said.

"Something like that." Rory walked up the steps and sat on the wicker bench,and Lorelai sat next to her. "So how was the rest of the movie night?"

"Uneventful." Lorelai said. "He fell asleep when I put on Hardbodies."

"How can you fall asleep during a classic like Hardbodies."

Lorelai shrugged. "I don't know. Luke said something about coming off a double shift, but I think he just has no taste. Oh, well. To each his own."

"So, what the verdict?" Rory asked. "Will we see him again for movie night?"

Lorelai pretended to think. "You know what? I think there is a very good chance that we'll get the chance to introduce him to all sorts of classics."

"Luke better watch out." Rory joked. "He might accidentally become an honorary Gilmore Girl."

"A Gilmore Guy."

"Yeah!"

* * *

 _ **Sorry that this is a little bit piecemeal. I tried to make it flow better for a long time and then I got plot-blocked. But I'm back now, and hopefully I can keep putting out chapters on a more regular basis.**_


	5. Chapter 5 - Rory's Dance, Part 1

_Purrycat - Thank you for your comments. I've been going back over the chapters that I've already posted and making them better, adding more internal dialogue and stuff like that. And yes, I just reread the story where she says yes. Love LL's craziness in that story. But I just wanted to play with the idea that he asked a question that is harder to joke away than a marriage proposal._

 _And thank you to everyone else who have commented. It means so much. I love hearing your guys' opinions and what you think is going to happen._

* * *

Luke looked up as the doors to the diner opened and saw Lorelai walk into the diner with an oversized shopping bag. Luke grabbed a pot of coffee and a cup and headed towards "her" stool, third one down from the register. He struck up a conversation as she set her stuff down.

"Coffee?"

"Thanks." Lorelai sighed and plopped down on her stool

"Haven't seen you in a couple days. I was gonna call ya."

She flashed him a bright smile. "Aw, gettin' worried about me?"

"Well, coffee sales were down, so..." Luke jokingly explained.

"Ah."

"So what have you been up to?"

"I've been working really hard on Rory's dress." She took a moment to savor her coffee before continuing. "Spent the last three days working on the dress. I had Rory try it on this morning, which is when I realized - Rory had an unscheduled growth spurt sometime in the last four months and I was going to have to start completely over."

"Bummer."

"Yeah." She grinned. "But at least I got to go shopping. I found this really pretty blue fabric that will match her eyes and look amazing on her, andt's all shimmery, and she's already got the shoes to match it, _and_ it was on sale."

"Always a plus." He ripped off the sheet and pushed it towards the customer two stools down from hers. Then went back to his conversation with Lorelai. "New dress, huh? Something special coming up?"

"Rory's going to her first formal at Chilton."

"A school dance?"

"Her first ever." Lorelai confirmed. "And before you can start in on how stupid dances are, or how ridiculous it is that kids get all dressed up to impress and dance with people they won't care about in ten years, and how ridiculous it is that schools spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on an event that everyone's going to forget after a week except for the time a student caught a teacher and a parent chaperon making out in the office-"

He stopped her there. "Wait, what?"

Lorelai was more than happy to explain. "My ninth grade science teacher Mr. Weiss and Teresa McCloskey's mom were caught in making out in administrative office when Jamie something-or-other got blisters from her shoes and she had to go in there to get to the nurse's office to get a band-aid. Apparently, she walked right past them the first time and only saw them on her way out 'cause he'd taken his jacket off and he was wearing a white shirt that was really, _really_ bright. Like, neon white."

"That does not sound real."

"I never heard what happened to Teresa and her mom after that. I think he mom pulled her out of school and moved to a different part of the country. Mr. Weiss on the other hand, despite being forced to resign, ended up with a new job as an assistant professor at college in Maine and married rich. He bought property in Kennebunkport."

Luke shook his head in wonder. "How do you know all this?"

"A glorious thing called the internet. Well, not that last bit. That information I got from my parents. I got bored one night when there was nothing on tv and I looked up a bunch of people from high school. Haven't you ever been tempted to do that?"

"That's one of the things about living in a small town your whole life." He pointed out. "Pretty much everyone I knew from high school I see on a daily basis."

"Hm." Lorelai acknowledged with a nod. "What was I saying?"

"School dances are stupid, kids getting dressing to impress, hundred of dollars, Mr Weiss and Teresa's mom hooked up in the office."

"Right." Lorelai picked up where she left off. "So before you can lay into why dances are stupid, I want you remind you that she's really excited, and that these kind of events, while sometimes tacky, can also be fun. Sometimes.

"Hopefully, not _too_ much fun." Luke muttered.

"Amen, sisterfriend." She paused to take another drink of coffee. "So, do you have any interesting school dance experiences?"

Luke shook his head quickly. "No, none at all."

"You didn't go to one dance?"

"Nope." Luke lied. That one homecoming dance really should not count. He was hardly ever even in the building that night.

"Not even prom?"

"No, I didn't go to prom." Luke said truthfully. "I wasn't really into all the social stuff at school. I hated that school."

She rolled her eyes. "Now why doesn't that surprise me?"

"When's the dance?"

"This Saturday. She's really excited, but she keeps going back and forth about whether or not she should to go because she wants to go but she's afraid it's not gonna be fun but Dean's taking her, and-"

"Dean's taking Rory to the dance?" Luke interrupted.

"Yes."

"Ah."

Lorelai narrowed her eyes at him. Like he was a puzzle. It was look that unnerved him sometimes.

"What was that?"

Like now. "What was what?"

"You said "ah", and then you tried to hide it." She arched an eyebrow at him. "What was it about?"

"It's nothing."

"That "ah" was not nothing. That "ah" meant something, something about Dean. What was it?"

"Nothing." Luke repeated. "I do not have a problem with Dean."

"But you _do_ have a problem with Dean and Rory?" Lorelai guessed.

"I do _not_ \- have…"

Lorelai grinned triumphantly at him, and he rolled his eyes in defeat.

He threw his hands up. "Fine, yes, I have a problem with Dean and Rory dating."

"Ah-ha!"

"That kid is trouble." Luke insisted.

"Luke, you're the one who talked me down from hating him! And now _you_ hate him?"

"I don't hate him."

"Oh yeah?"

"That doesn't mean I like him either." He muttered.

Lorelai nodded. "Hm, well, same here, my friend."

He scoffed at her. "You're the one going on about how it's so great Rory's going with him to the dance and now you're saying that you _don't_ like him?"

"I like him. I think he's a good kid." Lorelai defended herself. "That doesn't mean I'm not still on the fence about Rory dating a boy. Any boy, not just Dean."

"Fair enough."

She drained the last of her coffee. "Well, anyway, I better get home and start working on Rory's dress. _Again_. Can I get a coffee to go?"

Luke poured her coffee another coffee and snapped the lid on the to-go cup, and handed to her. Lorelai was leaving money on the counter and started gathering her things together.

"Oh, hey, I meant to say, I had a lot fun with you guys, on movie night."

"Yeah?" She looked mock-frustrated at him. "Before or _after_ you decided to take a nap?"

"Yeah." Luke apologized. "I had early deliveries that morning..."

"It wasn't even fifteen minutes into what might arguably be the best movie ever." Luke hid a smile as Lorelai pretended to pout. "You know, it hurts when a man falls asleep on me. It makes me feel like I'm not doing my best."

"Well, I'll try to do a little better next time." He assured her.

Lorelai brightened. "You'd be up for a next time? We didn't scare you off?"

"Hey, I've known you for years. If you haven't scared me off by now, nothing you can do will."

"You remember that when we sit you down to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show."

"I've seen a horror movie or two in my day." Luke said confidently. "I think I'll power through."

Lorelai stifled a laugh. "Okay, ignoring the opportunity for a "dirty!"-"

"Not technically ignoring but continue."

"-The fact that you think that it's horror movie is proof that you are nowhere near ready for that movie."

He frowned. "It's not?"

"No, it's not." Lorelai laughed. "Anyway, just let me know when you're free for a movie night. It's usually every Wednesday, sometimes Friday, though those tend to run a little late cause they're after dinner at the parents. If you find you have some unexpected free time one of those nights, just go ahead and come on over, there's always plenty of food. Just maybe not this week, still gotta finish Rory's dress."

"You'd be okay with me just dropping in on your guys' movies nights?" He checked.

"Of course." Lorelai stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Luke, consider this an all season pass to movie night. Hell, all millennium pass to movie night. We'd love you to come."

Luke smiled and nodded. "Alright then, I'll- I'll take you up on that."

She looked at the clock. "Oh boy, I really gotta go. See ya."

"See ya." He watched her leave, smiling to himself.

 _Still not a date._

_Still a lot further than what I was doing three months ago. Which was nothing._

_Yeah, but now you need to actually ask her out, wiseass._

He smiled to himself. _I'm getting there._

 _Slowly. Glaaaciaaally sl-_

 _But I_ am _getting there._

Rory tried in vain to focus on the assignment written on the board, but her mind kept wandering. It wasn't helped by the fact that one of things she kept getting distracted by was the potential love triangle between her mother, Luke, and the teacher currently grading papers at the head of classroom.

English class used to be one of Rory's favorites. It still was, in most aspects. Mr. Medina loved his job and works of great literature, and taught it well. But now, in between reading about Shakespeare and Dickens and Chaucer, Rory wondered what was going on that her mother might not be telling her. Or what Lorelai might not even realize herself.

Of course she wanted to see her mother happy. That, and getting into Harvard, were the most important things in Rory's life. But either choice Lorelai might make could have catastrophic consequences, for both of them. Out of frustration, Rory decided to put down all her worries on paper, so that at least they would no longer take up residence in her mind. She opened her notebook to a blank page and started a pro/con list. She hated to work on something that wasn't related to class, but there were extenuating circumstances, so she begrudgingly allowed it.

She counted them up. 4 pros for Mr. Medina, 7 pros for Luke. 3 cons for Mr. Medina, 5 cons for Luke. After a great deal of thought, Rory added a final item to Luke's Pro column.

8\. He makes mom happy

Rory sat back and examined her preliminary pro/con list as a dozen more questions came flooding into her mind. Have Mom and Mr. Medina actually gone on a date yet? Lorelai would have told her, right? Did Luke know that her mom liked him? Did She even know that she likes him? Does Luke actually like her back?

She frowned, and knowing that she could not afford to be distracted from class any longer, and flipped back to the notes for the class.

This was becoming far more complicated than she originally thought.

Lorelai hung up phone after the conversation with her mother and tossed the phone away. She rested her eyes, before remembering all the stuff she needed to do before Saturday. None of which could be accomplished while she was laying on the floor, pretending that she was fine. As long as she stayed completely still, and did not move her back, she _was_ completely fine. Aside from one thing.

She needed coffee.

She tried to think though the steps that she had to do to make coffee.

She would have to get up off the floor _(laying down there seemed like a good idea at the time)_ , walk into the kitchen, open the cabinet, reach up to the second shelf for the bag of coffee _(oh god, what was she thinking, storing the coffee up so high?)_ , put coffee grounds in, walk across the kitchen to the sink _(why couldn't she have put the coffee maker next to the sink, that was much better idea)_ , fill up the pot, and carry a full pot of water back to the coffee maker _(again, coffee maker **by the sink** )_, pour the water in, and start the coffee.

 _Or,_ she thought. _You could get up, grab your keys, drive to Luke's, park illegally right in front, and have your sexy guy friend pour you a coffee that is already made._

Good. Good plan. Now she only had one major problem.

How was she going to get off the floor?

Lorelai came into the diner, and slumped into the seat nearest to the door. Luke frowned. Something was wrong. No jokes, no shouting, no t-shirts with obscene language or pictures on them. Even her characteristic and seemingly boundless energy was missing from the room.

He quickly came by with a mug and a coffee pot, and started pouring before she could even ask. "I didn't think I'd see ya 'til after Saturday."

"I needed coffee." She picked up the mug and downed nearly a third of it in one gulp. Luke raised his eyebrows at her, but said nothing about it. He simply topped it off.

"Anything else I can get ya?"

"Yes, burger, fries, and a vicodin." She muttered.

"What's the vicodin for?"

"Oh, I pulled something in my back the earlier when the mannequin I was using to make Rory's dress got fresh with me." She sighed and took another drink of coffee. "I wasn't planning on going anywhere but I thought coming here for coffee would be easier than making it at home."

"Was it?"

"No. I started to regret my decision somewhere around Elm." Lorelai said.

"You have coffee at home."

"It's not yours." Lorelai pouted. "I needed _yours_. I'm in pain and yours is better."

"I would have brought you coffee." He reminded her.

"You're working."

"We deliver."

"I couldn't find the phone." She lied.

"Use your cell."

She let out a dramatic sigh. "Look, I'm here now, so I'm gonna drink my coffee, take my burger to go and _then_ I'll go home."

"Fine."

"Fine." Lorelai forgetting her back, and tried to sit up straight in her chair but winced.

"Your back?" Luke asked.

"It's fine." She insisted stubbornly.

Luke shook his head. "Wait here. I'll get your food started."

While he was gone, Miss Patty and Kirk walked into the dinner.

"Please, Miss Patty, you won't even notice I'm there." Kirk pleaded.

"Kirk, I have to drive into Hartford for a recital." Miss Patty said. "I'm not even going to be there."

"Then fine, I can use the studio to practice and I'll lock up when I leave."

"Fine, but remember this time." She warned him. "I don't want to walk in and find another raccoon among the leotards."

"I promise that I will at least close the door this time. And I will pay any costs having to to with removing another animal from your studio."

"I will hold you to that, Kirk." Patty threatened.

Kirk left, and Miss Patty sat at Lorelai's table.

"Mind if I sit with you?"

"Not a bit." Lorelai asked. "What was that about? Kirk still trying to learn ballet?"

"Ugh, yes. Thirteen years of ballet practice and he still has the grace of a one legged duck."

"Still, you have to admire his determination."

"True. I just can't figure out how he could have such perfect form in gymnastics and still can't learn how to do a simple relevé without falling on his face."

Luke came back and handed her a tin. "Food'll be ready in a minute. Here."

She picked it up. "What is this?"

"Tiger balm, for your back. It'll help. Patty, you ready to order?"

"Tea and a chef salad." Luke wrote it down and went back to the kitchen. Miss Patty turned to Lorelai. "You get hurt, sweetie?"

"My back, earlier." She said simply.

"Well, Luke's right, that stuff works. Just wash your hands after you put it on, try not to get it near your eyes or anything. Or anywhere that's been recently waxed." Miss Patty made a face. "That was a night I won't forget, for _all_ the wrong reasons. And a... few of the right ones."

"Ooh-kay." Lorelai's eyes got big and chuckled nervously. "Be careful, Miss Patty, remember. You have to save the good stories for Christmas."

Luke came back with their food. Lorelai was reaching for the ketchup when Luke caught her attention by tapping on her arm. She looked up at him, and was surprised by the amount of concern on his face. Dare she say, even loving concern.

"Hey, in case I don't catch you before you leave, I just wanted to remind you to take it easy." Luke said quietly. "And let me know if you need anything, okay?"

Lorelai, for some reason, was at a loss for word, so she simply nodded, and watched him leave and carry on with his job, leaving her to process.

"You okay, honey?" Patty asked, startling her out of her reverie.

"Yup." Lorelai said, and grabbed the ketchup. When Patty wasn't looking, Lorelai looked over at Luke.

_Your boyfriend's worried about you. It's sweet._

_He's just a friend._

_Still worried. Still sweet._

Lorelai smiled to herself as she took a bite of her burger. _Yeah. It is._

* * *

 **So, I've gotten some good tips on editing for this story, and I'm working on the chapters that I've already posted. So if there's anything in this chapter that doesn't seem like it fits in the story, it does. Or at least, it will eventually.**


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